Punk and MenaRD to face off as part of the Ultra Fight Night at Kumite in Tennessee 2018

Panda X Gaming have added another great match to the Ultra Fight Night fight card at Kumite in Tennessee, as Capcom Cup 2017 champion RISE|MenaRD is set to face off against Pandal Global’s Punk in a first-to-seven set. These two titans do have a history, with Punk defeating Mena at CEO 2017, followed by Mena firing back with a victory at SCR 2017 — with one of the greatest pop-offs of the year, I might add.

This exhibition fills out an already intense night of competition, with Battle for the Stones champion Cloud805 taking on SonicFox in Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite, while ForeverKing battles against Semiij in Injustice 2. With KitanaPrime and Yipes on commentary, expect plenty of hype on the mic as these six competitors fight it out.

Kumite in Tennessee 2018 kicks off this Friday, with the Ultra Fight Night happening Saturday evening over on the Panda X Gaming Twitch channel.

Sources: BestOfVShow; Panda X Gaming

Genesis 5 will not utilize Melee’s Universal Controller Fix

It seems you can’t have a major Melee tournament these days without some controversy over controllers. Ahead of Genesis 5 later this month, the Genesis Smash team have declared that the Universal Controller Fix — a mod that allows any controller to consistently perform a dashback or a shield drop — will not be used at the tournament.

While UCF has been used successfully at tournaments like GameTyrant Expo, the mod’s debut at Shine 2017 did have one major blip — a top 8 set between Leffen and ChuDat had to be replayed, as UCF had not been switched on.

In order to lay out the reasoning as to why UCF is not being used, as well as to explain “the future of GameCube controllers,” MIOM is planning to host a special livestream ahead of Genesis 5 which should put player concerns to rest. With B0xx creator Hax and Competition Committee member TheCrimsonBlur set to appear on this stream, expect clarification on issues like Smash Box-style controllers, Arduinos, and other hot-button issues.

Source: Genesis_Smash

Square Enix partners with Amazon to host a Dissidia Final Fantasy NT Fantasy Finals tournament this January

With the game’s release less than a month away, Square Enix has announced that they are partnering with Amazon to host a Dissidia Final Fantasy NT Fantasy Finals Tournament later in January. The Dissidia Final Fantasy NT Finals Tournament will take place on January 17th; the event is set to see teams made up of “some of the world’s top fighting game streamers” compete in the game before its wide release.

As part of this, they’ve also announced that players who pre-order Dissidia Final Fantasy NT from Amazon will receive a special code that can be entered at the official website, and will allow them to try to predict the outcome of the tournament for a chance to win prizes. This is on top of the Amazon-exclusive Cloud Strife “Nail Bat” weapon DLC.

Prizes include a Dissidia Final Fantasy NT arcade cabinet, on top other prizes including plush toys, headsets, and more. Learn more about these — and the tournament itself — in the trailer below.

For those interested, the teams and players competing at the event are as follows:

  • Balamb Moogles
    • Peter “FGC Flash” Susini
    • Keenan “Kizzie Kay” Kizzie
  • Kaiba Boys
    • Evil Genuises|Kenneth “KBrad” Bradley
    • Evil Genuises|Christopher “NYChrisG” Gonzales
    • Steve “Tasty Steve” Scott
  • Team Terminus
    • Alex “TenTanMan” Mills
    • Danny “DangleDoo69” Koudouzian
    • Rosie “dbratt1O1” Hughes
  • The Name’s Bartz
    • MTG|Andre “Leif_3GHP” Brunson
    • Carlos “Angrybananas” Lopez
    • David “FGC Qiom” Mejia
  • Marvel is Animé
    • Jona “JonaKim” Kim
    • Manuel “Mannyfr3sh” Castillo
    • Julian “BeautifulDudeGG” Franco
  • Pick Up Group
    • Dante “Swordsman09” Phimmasone
    • Thomas “TKRotom” Remkus
    • Elenah “Infiniteehart” Han
  • Team Excalipoor
    • No1Alex
    • Michael “MrHappy1227” Poveromo
    • Blake “Slackaholicus” Cory
  • Goons
    • Team Solo Mid|Gonzalo “Zero” Barrios
    • Mason “Legenday Olive” Hanna
    • NRG|Nairoby “Nairo” Quezada

Dissidia Final Fantasy NT releases on PlayStation 4 on January 11 in Japan, followed by the the West on January 30.

Source: Dissidia Final Fantasy NT Finals

– Monster Hunter World Being Optimized for PC & Primed for an Autumn 2018 Release

The latest Monster Hunter World PC Development Update has been “tweeted” that reveals that the game is being optimized for PC and that the release date is targeting autumn 2018. The PlayStation 4 and XBox One versions will be released on January 26th, so it means quite a bit longer in the oven for PC players. But this may be a diamond in the rough for PC players as there will be more monsters released between now and then and more content. That’s always a good thing.

Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition’s patch notes will be posted “soon” according to Capcom

While we’ve seen a lot of discussion and analysis on the balance changes for the Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition update, none of these are really final, as they were based on player experience with the demo version shown at PSX. Until Capcom says so, nothing we’ve seen and heard so far is guaranteed to stick for the retail build.

Now, for those eagerly awaiting actual information from Capcom on what the final balance changes are, it seems that the wait may be drawing to an end. In response to a tweet by Javits Arias, the official Street Fighter twitter has stated that the patch notes for Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition are coming “soon.”

Of course, “soon” could mean anything, especially with the release just a couple of weeks away. Season 2’s patch notes, for example, came out barely a day before the update actually hit. We’ll see if this time we’ll get the patch notes out with a little more lead time before launch.

The Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition update hits PlayStation 4 and PC on January 16.

Source: Street Fighter (Twitter)

– Harry Potter: Wizards Unite AR Game Gets a Release Window

If you’re hoping to be summoned to Hogwarts in the very near future, you may wish to think again, muggle. Niantic’s CEO John Hanke revealed that Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, its latest AR title, will be launching in the latter half of 2018. For wizards worrying that the same server issues present when Pokemon Go launched, rest at ease. Hanke said that the company is “much better positioned” to fight off the massive muggle influx on launch day and beyond.

Meet the members of Final Fight 3’s Skull Cross Gang in the latest batch of CFN Portal profiles

After taking a near-three month break after finishing the Mad Gear Gang members seen in Final Fight 2, the CFN Portal site returned to give us the 250th character profile. To celebrate this milestone, Shadaloo’s research files have turned to the members of the Skull Cross Gang, seen in 1995’s Final Fight 3.

After the final destruction of the Mad Gear following Retsu’s defeat at the end of FF2, the various street gangs began battling for power throughout Metro City, as there was now a vacancy at the top of the criminal underworld. In the end, a subordinate of Mad Gear, known as the Skull Cross Gang, reigned supreme — causing massive riots and looting throughout the streets of Metro, due to their vast expansion. This forced Mayor Mike Haggar to take to the streets once again, alongside Guy (fresh from his training and battle with Zeku during Street Fighter Alpha 2), along with Lucia and Dean, to continue protecting his city.

Today, we look at the first of the game’s seven bosses, Dave, a corrupt cop similar to Edi E. As always, the ever-loyal Private Nakagawa has returned to provide narration of Shadaloo’s latest intel.

Private Nakagawa: “A cop who’s rumored to have connections with a criminal group. He takes along with him a group of hoodlums and threatens and blackmails everyone, doing whatever he pleases. HE’S REALLY A BAD GUY!!“

Dave-FF3

Basic Info:

Name: Dave
Height: 201cm
Weight: 166kg
Blood Type: A
Birthday: August 20th
Country of Origin: USA
Likes: Money, Squandering
Dislikes: Saving

Private Nakagawa: “His specialties are his Hip Attack and striking with his tonfa. His base of operations is a petrol station, where he gathers smugglers to carry out his various evil deeds. He owns a refurbished patrol car and various monster trucks. This has attracted the attention of hot-blooded police officer Lucia.”

Next up is the corrupt English barkeep and bouncer who owns the establishment the Skull Cross Gang frequent, Callman.

Private Nakagawa: “The owner of a bar named Club Sims, who also doubles as its bouncer. He collects info all about Metro City. He has a finely chiseled physique, so all of his attacks are extremely powerful!

Callman-SFV-FF3

Basic Info:

Name: Callman
Height: 215cm
Weight: 152kg
Blood Type: B
Birthday: November 23rd
Country of Origin: UK
Likes: Comfortable shirts
Dislikes: People who don’t even try

Private Nakagawa: “He speaks in a clam, gentle, tone, but is terribly scary when angered. His subordinates call him ‘Mr. Callman.’ He has a very high sense of professionalism, and when there’s something to do, he always fulfills his duty. His bar’s most popular menu item is Fish & Chips, a typical dish of his hometown prepared by frying white fish in peanut oil. It fits well with black beer. (I don’t know what to present anymore!)”

Next up is the Skull Cross Gang’s mechanic, and a certified grease monkey, Caine.

Private Nakagawa: “A hunchback man who attacks with tools. He hates to socialize. It seems he’s on the payroll of a certain organization.”

Caine-FF3-SFV

Basic Info:

Name: Caine
Height: 214cm
Weight: 160kg
Blood Type: Unknown
Birthday: Unknown
Country of Origin: USA
Likes: Breaking Things
Dislikes: Boredom

Private Nakagawa: “Dismantling machinery has always been his hobby since childhood. His father used to work in a car factory, and Caine spent his days stealthily stealing his father’s tools to disassemble and reassemble various machineries. To secure machines for his favorite pastime, he ran away from home and settled in a scrapyard. He has enough power to bend steel barehanded, but his style of brawling is self-taught because he has no fighting experience.”

That brings an end to another round of CFN Portal profiles. We’ll likely see the other four FF3 bosses as we get into the New Year. Do you have any fond memories of battling these three? If so, share your stories in the comments below.

Special thanks to Midgardsorn for translations and footnotes.

Source: CFN Portal

– Nexon Going Great Guns for Mobile MMOs Including FFXI, LawBreakers a Disappointment

During a recent investors’ call, Nexon revealed its “pipeline” of games coming to both PC and mobile devices. In the pipeline for PC is Titanfall Online, Battlerite and Moonlight Blade. The mobile pipeline, however, is more interesting, with several MMOs making the cut: Elsword M, Mabinogi Mobile, Dungeon Fighter 2D Mobile, MapleStory Blitz, Tree of Savior Mobile Remake and Final Fantasy XI.

Nintendo’s paid Switch online service may not launch until Fall 2018

While Nintendo’s Switch is slowly but surely gathering a library of titles that any fighting game fans looking to play on the go can enjoy, it currently lacks some of the online features of other consoles. While it’s certainly possible to play online with various Switch titles, the system is currently lacking features such as voice chat and a lobby system. These are all supposed to come with a future paid online service in the vein of PlayStation Plus and Xbox Live.

For those eagerly awaiting this service, it looks like you’ll have to wait a bit more. Nintendo Italy briefly updated their website for the online service, stating that it would launch in the Fall of 2018.

switch-online-italy-fall-2018

This update was quickly reverted back to stating a general 2018 window, reflecting what Nintendo announced at E3. Originally meant to launch last year, Nintendo then delayed the online service to sometime in 2018. The service is meant to add features such as voice chat and online lobbies through the use of a companion app for smartphones. Pricing is currently planned at $3.99 per month, with discounted rates for those who subscribe for multiple months ($7.99 for three months, $19.99 for 12 months).

Source: Wccftech via Siliconera

Possible BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle leaks could reveal the characters included in the next four Impacts

It’s looking like the next two months are going to absolutely huge for the upcoming BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle. With the BB quartet of Iron Tager, Makoto Nanaya, Nu-13, and Es being revealed during this month’s Arc Nama stream, a new playable build of the game being available at next month’s Evo Japan, and the Arc System Works Twitter account recently noting that there would be “Tons of news coming soon,” a recently-sprung leak could potentially come to fruition over the course of the next few months. Though, as always, these should be taken with a big grain of salt.

A 4chan poster claiming to be a member of the game’s localization team at the new Arc System Works North American branch — which will be publishing the title as the first game under their new umbrella — has decided to supposedly leak the next four character reveal Impacts taking place in January and February. According to them, the next sets of characters are as follows:

January 19th’s monthly Arc Nama stream announcements:

  • Hakumen
  • Kanji Tatsumi
  • Orie “Harada”

Evo Japan trailer announcements:

  • Jubei
  • Yuuki Terumi
  • Teddie
  • Tohru Adachi
  • Seth
  • Hilda

RTX Sydney announcements:

  • Platinum The Trinity
  • Bang Shishigami
  • Blake Belladonna

February 16th monthly Arc Nama stream reveals:

  • Valkenhayn R. Hellsing
  • Labrys
  • Merkava

They further claim that there will be an English dub for all characters, including the Under Night In-Birth cast (who have never previously had one before). Additionally, it is claimed that Rooster Teeth asked the American branch to abandon their plan of including BlazBlue‘s Relius Clover, as they were concerned they may add his Astral Heat to the game (even though Astrals/IKs are not currently present in the game right now), and they did not wish to see it performed on the RWBY characters. When specifically asked about Naoto Shirogane’s presence, the poster noted that, “The entire Investigation Team will make it in, I’m just giving what I know so far in terms of dates and announcements.”

Finally, they note that the team is currently expecting a September 2018 release for the game. Yang is still being worked on, and will be revealed at another RTX event, claiming that “the roster is going to be bigger than what most people expect,” and even gave what could be a few details about the game’s Story mode: “Story mode hasn’t been 100% finished, but so far, Es somehow causes each world to meet each other. Timeline-wise it takes place in an alternate version of Central Fiction‘s story, after Ultimax, somewhere in the middle of Under Night In-Birth‘s story and during Volume 3 of RWBY.”

Though some of the development details could prove questionable, this is a very organized list, and by providing specific dates and characters in regards to upcoming reveals, we’ll be able to determine whether this leak lives or dies in just a couple of weeks. You can also see ASW YouTuber Koefficient’s thoughts on these developments below:

What are your thoughts on this leak? Would you like to see this group of characters make it in, or are you hoping for others? Let us know in the comments.

BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle will be released for PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and PC sometime in 2018.

Sources: Koefficient; ArcSystemWorksU (Twitter); 4chan